Ernst & Young is one of the world's largest professional services firms.

In 2019, it has carried out numerous corporate operations, within the different areas in which it operates.

In total, it has carried out more than 20 acquisitions which are discussed below.

We analyse below the most relevant ones and the strategy carried out by the firm.

WHO IS ERNST & YOUNGY

Ernst & Young is a professional services firm providing services globally.

It employs more than 280,000 people worldwide and is, together with KPMG, PwC and Deloittepart of the so-called Big Four.

The latter is a term used to refer to the world's leading audit and consulting firms.

The firm's history dates back to the early 1900s, when both the Arthur Young as Alwin Ernst decided to set up their own independent audit firms.

Both grew rapidly and expanded internationally, sharing a similar philosophy and strategy.

However, it was not until 1989 that the two decided to merge and form Ernest & Young.

This positioned the newly created firm as a benchmark, capable of adapting to the growing globalisation that was taking place, to the use of new technologies and to a different way of working.

Since then, the firm has continued to grow.

In the 21st century, and following the numerous M&A transactions In the wake of the Enron scandal, Ernest & Young was able to consolidate its position as one of the most important global professional services firms.

It is currently present in more than 150 countries.

WHAT ARE YOUR SERVICES?

The services provided by EY are divided into four main areas:

• Assuranceaudit, forensic, financial and accounting advisory and compliance services, among others. Its objective is to help its clients meet increasingly complex regulatory requirements, while satisfying the demands of stakeholders, investors, management committees and company auditors.
• Fiscal and legaltax and legal issues affecting companies, such as taxation, international trade or possible litigation.
• Consultancyindependent and specialised consultancy service that helps clients find solutions to problems they face in a wide range of areas.
• TransactionsThis area includes all services required in the course of corporate transactions. They range from due diligence, through restructuring to valuation services.

Despite the current climate of global uncertainty due to doubts about economic growth, trade wars and protectionism, EY has managed to continue to grow and reported a record turnover of €33bn in its last financial year.

The robust growth and high growth figures for an established and mature company like EY can be explained by its strategy focused on creating long-term value using technology.

This was remarked by Carmine Di Sibio, CEO of EY Global.

In this way, there are two points that highlight EY's commitment to technological solutions and digital transformation:

• The investment of more than €900m in technology solutions during the last financial year.
• The key acquisitions carried out along the same lines, which are analysed below.

THE EY STRATEGY

PLAUT IT

In the first month of the year, EY acquired this Australian company specialising in SAP which has clients of the stature of Toyota Australia, among others.

With Plaut IT EY has managed to position itself in this sector, which is becoming increasingly important for companies, and has even become the largest SAP service provider in the world.

In this way, they continue with their commitment to technology and the ability to provide their clients with digital transformation services in even the most complex and complex of environments. cloud enterprise.

PANGEA3 AND RIVERVIEW

With the acquisition of these two companies, EY strengthens its offering and services in the legal area.

In particular, it enables it to be the first firm to offer legal consulting services, leading LMS (learning management system) software and legal technology in more than 80 countries.

In order to facilitate the efforts of firms in the legal sector to transform and improve their processes, EY has been able to add the legal outsourcing services, as well as the innovative technologies from Pangea3 and Riverview.

As a result, it has been able to stand out from its competitors.

C CENTRIC

Another area of significant growth and utility in recent times is CRM.

EY has reinforced this with the acquisition of C Centric, Indian company focused on assisting companies in their integration and adoption of different CRM systems..

However, procurement does not only add resources in the CRM area alone.

Thanks to C Centric's expertise and efforts in different fields, it enables EY to have the combination of CRM with the cloud, SaaS, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation.

ELEVATEDPROMPT

Due to the increasing number, severity and sophistication of cyber attacks, EY purchased ElevatedPrompt to strengthen its services in the field of cybersecurity with threat, virus and malware detection services, among others..

This is one of the areas where consultancy firms are making the greatest effort to respond to the high demand from companies as they adapt to digital transformation,

EY is adding these services to its branch of risk advisory.

ALERON

Spoiler is a Australian company focused on cyber security, platform design and technology implementation across industries such as retail and financial services..

This acquisition also strengthens EY's position in this sector and positions it as a leader in cybersecurity solutions, reinforcing the services it already offered.

As can be seen, EY's strategy in its acquisitions has been focused on adding to and completing its technology and digital transformation services.

In the company, they are aware of the importance it is taking on in all companies globally, and are convinced that it will be the most important factor in the growth of their turnover.